Blog Profile / Boston 1775
| URL : | http://boston1775.blogspot.com/ | |
|---|---|---|
| Filed Under: | History / US History | |
| Posts on Regator: | 1987 | |
| Posts / Week: | 7.3 | |
| Archived Since: | March 3, 2008 | |
Blog Post Archive
James Hall, “a British soldier”
Today I’m pleased to share with you the first half of an essay by Dan Lacroix. As a historical researcher, Dan has worked for years with the Westford Museum & Historical Society. As a reenactor with the Westford Colonial Minutemen, he also has a specialty in eighteenth-century house joinery (carpentry). Show More Summary
“Near this site was buried a British soldier”
Yesterday’s posting included a recent photograph of the monument marking the grave of two British soldiers who died in the skirmish at the North Bridge in Concord. That tablet, with lines by the poet James Russell Lowell, has been on the site for decades.In recent years, as D. Show More Summary
“They came three thousand miles and died”
So how many British soldiers died at the North Bridge in Concord? How many were buried nearby? Those questions have answers, but not definite ones. As I quoted earlier in the week, one of the British officers there, Lt. William Sutherland, described leaving two men “dead on the Spot.” But Capt. Show More Summary
“Very barbarously broke his scull and let out his brains”
As I quoted two days ago, in the spring of 1775 five British soldiers testified to seeing one of their comrades with “the Skin over his Eye’s Cut and also the Top part of His Ears cut off” near the North Bridge in Concord. On 19 April, army officers were already interpreting that as a scalping. Show More Summary
Burying the Bodies at the North Bridge
At the end of 19 Apr 1775, the people of Concord faced a big problem. Massachusetts was, of course, now in armed rebellion against the royal authorities holding the province’s capital. There were dead and dying royal soldiers in town. Show More Summary
British Corpses at the North Bridge
I’m returning to the Battle of Lexington and Concord for another series of essays. Later this week I’ll post some work by another researcher that I’ve been hoping to share for years. But first I want to lay the groundwork for that.In...Show More Summary
Learning about the Jacob Whittemore House, 18 & 23 May
Minute Man National Historical Park contains eleven buildings that stood during the Battle of Lexington and Concord. The only one within the bounds of Lexington (just barely tucked in) is the Jacob Whittemore House, built around 1717,...Show More Summary
A Door into Harbottle Dorr’s Newspapers
A couple of years ago, I mentioned the newspapers that Boston hardware dealer and selectman Harbottle Dorr collected, annotated, and indexed during the Revolution. Three of the four big volumes have long been owned by the Massachusetts Historical Society. Show More Summary
Unabashed Gossip at All Things Liberty
If you’ve tired of rerunning my conversation with Marian Pierre Louis at Fieldstone Common, you can head over to All Things Liberty and find an interview with me in two parts. It contains secrets of finding historical sources, book recommendations,...Show More Summary
“King Hancock” After the Revolution
Yet another complication in interpreting the phrase “King Hancock” in 1775 is John Hancock’s later political career. In 1780 he became governor of Massachusetts. That prominence affected how people spoke about him, and quite possibly...Show More Summary
“King Hancock” in Verse
I’ve been tracking appearances of the phrase “King Hancock” in Revolutionary sources, starting in 1770. A couple of those references were complimentary; most were sneering references from supporters of the royal government.In the fall...Show More Summary
“Washington’s Old Headquarters” in Richmond
This detail from a postcard in Virginia Commonwealth University’s library collection shows a gentleman outside “Washington’s Old Headquarters” in Richmond, Virginia. That’s a stone house built in 1754. Here’s the same house in a photo from the Library of Congress. Show More Summary
Two Talks at the Royall House & Slave Quarters
This spring the Royall House and Slave Quarters in Medford is hosting two lectures on slavery in the early republic.On Wednesday, 15 May, Henry Wiencek will speak on his book Master of the Mountain: Thomas Jefferson and His Slaves. In...Show More Summary
“I mean King Hancock.”
As I noted last month, a largely reliable British officer, Lt. Frederick Mackenzie, reported that some of the provincial troops shouted, “King Hancock forever!” on 19 Apr 1775. John Hancock went on to become president of the Continental Congress, thus the highest elected official of the United Colonies. Show More Summary
Unabashed Gossip at Fieldstone Common
Last month genealogist Marian Pierre-Louis and I gossiped by phone about children in Revolutionary Boston, the Vassall families of Cambridge, and other topics.That was for an episode of Marian’s internet radio show and podcast Fieldstone Common, and you can hear the recording here. Show More Summary
The Slow Spread of Official News about Bunker Hill
In response to this week’s question about George Washington on 17 June 1775, the day of the Battle of Bunker Hill, a few people guessed he was in New York on the way to the siege lines. In fact, he didn’t leave Philadelphia until the morning of 23 June, a full week after he agreed to be commander-in-chief. Show More Summary
What Was Washington Doing During the Battle of Bunker Hill?
On Tuesday I posed the question of what George Washington was doing during the Battle of Bunker Hill, which occurred on the afternoon of 17 June 1775. As several people noted, around that date the Continental Congress was making Washington the commander-in-chief of its new Continental Army. Show More Summary
Q. & A. on Bunker Hill with Nathaniel Philbrick, part 2
Today Boston 1775 concludes a colloquy with Nathaniel Philbrick, author of Bunker Hill: A City, a Siege, a Revolution. Q. What could the American commanders have done differently to win the battle? What could the British commanders have...Show More Summary
Q. & A. on Bunker Hill with Nathaniel Philbrick, part 1
Here’s the first part of my blog interview with Nathaniel Philbrick, author of the new book Bunker Hill: A City, a Siege, a Revolution. Q. Your new book is titled Bunker Hill, but it describes the years before that battle on 17 June 1775 and continues to the end of the siege of Boston in 1776. Show More Summary
Nat Philbrick’s Bunker Hill: Talks, Reviews, and a Giveaway
Today is the publication date of Nathaniel Philbrick’s new book, Bunker Hill: A City, A Siege, A Revolution. He’s speaking about it three times this week in Massachusetts: Wednesday, 1 May, 6:00 P.M., Coolidge Corner Theater, Brookline. Show More Summary